Can anyone recommend a good book that teaches the basic principles of makeup artistry? There are so many books online it's hard to choose. I basically want to start dabbling in basic makeup for those times when a MUA cancels and I can't find a fast enough replacement. In my area, there are very few makeup artists as well.

+1 for Making Faces, also Face Forward by Kevyn Aucoin is worth a look. Rae Morris' Express Makeup is very practical too, there's simple, quick techniques in there that will make you wonder why you didn't think of that already! I also found Bobbi Brown's Makeup Manual useful in the beginning, breaks down natural faces very well and lots of information on different skin types & tones.

Hiring a local MUA for a private lesson would be money well spent too.

Lauren Reynolds MUA wrote: +1 for Making Faces, also Face Forward by Kevyn Aucoin is worth a look. Rae Morris' Express Makeup is very practical too, there's simple, quick techniques in there that will make you wonder why you didn't think of that already! I also found Bobbi Brown's Makeup Manual useful in the beginning, breaks down natural faces very well and lots of information on different skin types & tones.

Hiring a local MUA for a private lesson would be money well spent too.

That's a great idea about hiring a makeup artist for lessons. I considered going to school, but no good makeup schools are around here and I'm not messing around with online schools.

Making Faces is definitely one of the standards. I also like Makeup Makeovers by Robert Jones. It covers a lot of identifying basic facial shapes and specific approaches to go with them. Also has a good variety of examples of each shape.